Leveraging cloud technology and artificial intelligence to augment teams’ skills and free up time that can be invested in core business activities. Noovle (TIM Group) a strategic partner on the Italian market.
Milan-based startup iGenius has launched its augmented analytics tool — crystal, the virtual advisor for data intelligence — on Google Cloud, aiming to accelerate the adoption of cloud and data intelligence technologies, speeding up digital transformation for small and mid-sized companies, financial institutions and large manufacturing companies.
Leveraging Google Cloud’s infrastructure — made available by TIM via Noovle, the Group’s cloud factory — alongside iGenius’ own artificial intelligence (AI), iGenius aims to push the practical applications of AI beyond the walls of innovation labs, concretizing the idea of augmented intelligence — the collaboration between people and AI. The challenge iGenius aims to solve is to extend access to business data beyond tech teams, ensuring even teams with low data literacy skills can get the answers they need to make better, faster data-driven decisions on a daily basis. Though company databases and business intelligence tools do contain the information necessary to make the best decisions, not every team in a business has access to, or the skills necessary to interpret that data.
“One of the most disruptive aspects of artificial intelligence is the conversational interaction between people and technology. At present, only a small fraction of over three billion workers worldwide benefit from digitisation. Leveraging the global scalability of Google Cloud and the innovation of iGenius’ virtual advisor, we can extend access to business data and adoption of business intelligence efforts to up to 100% of an organisation, bridging the skills gap like never before,” said Uljan Sharka, CEO and Founder of iGenius. “Access to data and the ability to read and interpret it correctly is key when it comes to making the right decisions for a business of any size. While the impact of an increase in efficiency on mid-sized and large companies may be more evident and easier to measure, our virtual advisor will also be able to help smaller entrepreneurs as it would not require massive integration efforts. For example, a simple connection to a business payment and invoicing system will provide advice ranging from customer preferences to best-selling products and key business performance information — use cases could be even more interesting with connections to other databases or tools such as CRM.”
iGenius has been recognised as a 2021 Gartner Cool Vendor in Core AI Technologies, as well as named in Gartner’s 2021 Market Guide for Augmented Analytics Tools.
According to Gartner, by 2023 data literacy will become an evident and necessary asset for companies. Consumers are used to “speaking the language of data” on a daily basis in their personal lives — think of wearable devices tracking health and fitness data, for example. Every day, consumers use apps that rely on complex technologies but with a simple interface that makes them accessible: you don’t need engineering skills to manage your smart home with Google Assistant.
“The same approach would be groundbreaking in the business context” according to Sharka, “as it would transfer to the workplace an experience that users are already used to, simplifying the interaction with data.”
“Google Cloud has a fundamental role in making company business intelligence systems more efficient and scalable,” continued Sharka. “Conversational AI is a value add: it makes data more accessible and easy for anybody to consult, regardless of their data literacy skills. When it comes to digitization, companies should compete on equal terms, and artificial intelligence has an important role to play.”
“iGenius’ virtual advisor, based on Google Cloud, makes data easier to use and accessible, even by those who do not have specific technical skills” comments Fabio Fregi, Country Manager Italy at Google Cloud. “Thanks to conversational artificial intelligence, it is possible to query data using the voice, simplifying the whole process. Therefore, AI not only allows to bridge the gap between technical teams and the ones less experienced on data, but also reduces the distance between larger companies, with access to significant technical resources, and smaller ones. We are pleased to collaborate with iGenius on this project, which facilitates a real cultural change within corporate realities and favors an acceleration in their digitization process”.
TIM is an integral part of the project, thanks to the partnership between iGenius and Noovle, the Group’s cloud company, part of the ecosystem of Independent Software Vendor on Google Cloud platforms. Noovle will leverage its own experience with cloud technology on TIM’s data centers in Italy, as well as its professional services via the collaboration with Google Cloud. TIM’s capillary presence on the Italian territory will make iGenius’s solutions available to both businesses and the public administration.
Carlo d’Asaro Biondo, CEO of Noovle, commented: “We are delighted to collaborate with iGenius, pioneers in such a key and innovative sector as AI, and to be able to offer advanced solutions to Italian companies of any size. Our goal is to simplify data access and hence boost the competitiveness of our country’s businesses and public administration in an ever more digitized marketplace. AI applied to the cloud via intuitive tools such as iGenius’ advisor makes the elaboration of data more accessible and accelerates digital transformation. Thanks to our own platforms and experience in cloud technologies we want to make life easier for businesses, optimizing internal and commercial processes and promoting a digital cultural shift on all levels.”
Stefano Siragusa, Chief Revenue Officer at TIM, added: “Collaborating with innovative startups allows us to find the best tools to improve digitalization of businesses as well as the public administration, and to expand our portfolio of “beyond connectivity” solutions. We will therefore pursue all opportunities to embrace the digital ecosystem, while enhancing our partnerships with Google Cloud as well as the skills and infrastructure we entrusted Noovle with. The aim is to be able to offer our clients agile, native cloud solutions that can boost the economic recovery and innovation of our country, in line with economic relief measures such as the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.”
“The partnership with TIM Group has the potential to bring an important component of innovation and value to Italian companies, particularly in the financial, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and retail sectors, where iGenius already has important clients,” concluded Sharka.